In the transportation of bulk liquid cargo, such as valuable chemicals, petroleum products and the like, sea-going vessels such as tankers and freighters are often employed. Although sea transport is highly effective and virtually always without incident, ecological damage often occurs in the event of an accident due to the fact that such a vast quantity of material is transported at one time. The great ecological damage resulting from a spill has been brought to the public's attention through several recent well-publicized incidents.
While the majority of these incidents are the result of shipwrecks and other sea-going accidents, a review of spills over the past several years reveals that hose related spills can account for a significant number of such incidents. As those experienced in marine transport recognize, such spills occur during the loading and off-loading of liquid cargo, when hoses may burst and connections or seals may fail.
Although improvements in materials and the equipment utilized in the loading and off-loading of liquid cargo continues to improve and regardless of the fact that workers may exercise extreme caution and diligence while utilizing hoses and connections, spills during loading and off-loading of liquid product nevertheless periodically occur.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus which will contain any spillage of liquid cargo which may inadvertently occur in the loading and off-loading of that cargo.